Chapter 440: The Sect Leader Returns

In one residence, the remains of the extinguished fire still smoldered, thin trails of green smoke drifting upward. From the neighboring residence, corpses were being carried out one after another. Feng Ruonan gathered up her skirts and came running through the alley at full speed. Soldiers along the way moved aside to let her pass, each man turning his head to watch her. She looked first at the burned residence opposite, where smoke still curled upward. Then she looked at the entrance before her.

Dense bloody footprints covered the ground where people had passed in and out. After being awakened, Feng Ruonan had not known what had happened. She did not know where her mother had gone, nor could she see her father. Tianyu Sect cultivators had stopped her and refused to let her meet him. All she had heard was her father's muffled sobbing from inside a room. So she had run here. She followed the bloody footprints into the courtyard, rounded the spirit wall, and finally stopped. Corpses lay everywhere.

The main hall had been badly damaged. Arrows were embedded all around the compound. She had gone to sleep, awakened, and in that brief span this place had become something else entirely. One glance was enough to know that a savage battle had taken place. So many soldiers had died here.

Coupled with the memory of her mother deliberately knocking her unconscious, Feng Ruonan would have wasted all those years she had spent as a general if she still could not understand what must have happened. The soldiers collecting bodies throughout the courtyard quietly watched her. Shounian, who had arrived ahead of her, turned toward her as well. His expression was complicated. Feng Ruonan rushed into the shattered hall and searched everywhere. She did not find the bodies of Shang Chaozong or the others. She ran outside again.

Her gaze fell on two wooden boards set across a flowerbed. Two corpses lay upon them beneath white cloths. They had plainly been given treatment different from all the other dead. They were impossible to overlook. Feng Ruonan walked over and extended one hand. For a long time she could not bring herself to touch the cloths. In the end, she pulled both coverings aside. The bodies beneath were not strangers. They were her two elder brothers. Feng Ruoyi. Feng Ruojie. Tears began sliding silently down her face.

Her mind went completely blank as she wept without a sound... Night fell. The forces of Liuxian Sect, Fuyun Sect, and Lingxiu Mountain still waited outside Changping City's southern gate. They were still refused entry. The three sects were in no hurry. They waited patiently beyond the walls and watched the sun set.

Inside another residence in the city, the arrowhead embedded in Shang Shuqing's shoulder blade was finally removed. The pain of something buried into the bone needed no description. At least the wound had now received proper treatment. Every wounded person on Shang Chaozong's side was treated as well. Tianyu Sect, however, did not restore their freedom. All of them were gathered together under strict guard. The sect would not permit the same thing to happen a second time.

After washing and changing, Shang Chaozong and the others were exhausted, yet none had any desire to rest. At last they had time to question Yuan Gang about what exactly had happened. They could not understand why Feng Lingbo had suddenly become so desperate. Only after Yuan Gang explained did they understand. After Master Dao disappeared and fell silent, it was not because he had done nothing. Nor had he abandoned them. Beneath that silence, hidden currents had been surging.

He had been engaged in an enormous contest with Tianyu Sect. The battlefield was not a battlefield at all. On one side, he had pushed the imperial court into publicly appointing Shang Chaozong Provincial Inspector of Nanzhou. On the other, he had pushed Jinzhou into assembling a great army and threatening to attack Nanzhou.

Shang Chaozong and the others could not imagine how Niu Youdao, with the limited resources apparently in his hands, had managed to move such a large situation. Persuading Jinzhou to use military force to pressure Tianyu Sect was even more difficult to understand. How could Myriad Caves Heavenly Mansion and Jinzhou possibly have agreed? Yuan Gang, however, revealed only the broad outline. He did not breathe a single word of the truth behind it. There were things Niu Youdao himself would never publicize.

Yuan Gang and Niu Youdao were of one mind. Naturally, he would never expose those secrets either. Some truths simply could not be allowed to spread too widely. Even so, Shang Chaozong and the others were both shocked and delighted. All of them understood what it meant for Niu Youdao to have set such a large board in motion. At last they understood why Niu Youdao had repeatedly told them to submit to Tianyu Sect. Master Dao truly had exhausted his mind on their behalf.

They also finally understood why Feng Lingbo had become a cornered dog and leaped the wall. Master Dao had driven him to the edge of the cliff and was about to kick him entirely out of the game. How could Feng Lingbo not panic? Listening from inside the room, Shang Shuqing's eyes brightened with joy. Her heart was joyous too. She had always firmly believed Niu Youdao would not abandon them. The facts proved her judgment had been right. It was just like Black Peony in the past.

Until the moment before her death, she had believed the ship would not leave. She had always believed Niu Youdao would wait for her. Such trust did not arise merely from romantic feelings between men and women. It came from spending a long time beside Niu Youdao and trusting the kind of person he was. Niu Youdao could hardly be called a good man. But those who stayed beside him long enough would, without realizing it, come to trust him.

"When will Master Dao return?"

In the end, Shang Shuqing could not stop herself from asking. Her question voiced what Meng Shanming and the others wanted to know as well. Everyone wanted to meet Niu Youdao and express their gratitude. Master Dao had turned the tide for them and reversed the entire situation. No amount of thanks could truly be excessive. Yuan Gang looked toward Shang Chaozong.

"That depends on when His Highness can truly bring Nanzhou under control."

Shang Chaozong fell silent. Meng Shanming looked thoughtful. Lan Ruoting gave a slight nod. All of them understood what the words meant. Before their side fully controlled Nanzhou, Master Dao probably would not show himself. He had forcibly overturned the situation to this degree. Tianyu Sect—and Peng Youzai in particular—probably wanted nothing more than to grind his bones to dust. The sect was likely waiting for him to reveal himself so they could kill him.

Only after Shang Chaozong truly held Nanzhou's power could they provide Master Dao with sufficient protection. Only then would they possess enough leverage to deter Tianyu Sect, making the cost to its interests too great for the sect to dare act recklessly against him... Late at night, inside the room temporarily assigned to Yuan Gang. His wounds were wrapped from head to foot in bandages. Yuan Gang sank into a horse stance.

Red mist cycled through his nose and mouth with every breath, while the hemispherical bulge at his abdomen rolled back and forth. The savage itching from his wounds became impossible to endure. The muscles across Yuan Gang's body suddenly tightened.

Snap! Snap! Snap!

The bandages wrapped around him burst apart one after another. Some fell to the floor. Others hung loosely from his body. The wounds tore open again. Fresh blood began flowing. Yet that pain was clearly far more comfortable than the unbearable itching. It allowed Yuan Gang to calm himself and continue his breathing exercise. With his eyes closed, he did not see the changes occurring across his body. The damaged wounds had torn through fine channels within his flesh, obstructing the normal circulation of blood and qi through his body.

Beneath the skin surrounding each injury, that blood and qi became faintly visible like small snakes. One after another, those slender currents traveled toward the wounds. Within the open injuries, subtle changes appeared. Tiny buds of new flesh began writhing. The granulation tissue moved toward itself and joined together, repairing the damaged flesh at a speed visible to the naked eye. At last Yuan Gang drew the red mist from his breathing deep into his lungs and formally concluded the exercise. He stood and began clearing away the broken bandages.

Then he froze. Both hands immediately moved over his body. At first, he thought his eyes had deceived him. But the evidence was undeniable. Every wound on his body, large and small, had disappeared. Apart from traces of blood across the surface, his skin was completely intact... The sky was only beginning to brighten when a column of riders came racing from the direction of the western gate. It was Peng Youzai's party returning from Jinzhou. The western gate opened immediately and allowed them inside.

Chen Tingxiu personally came out to receive them and accompanied them back.

Along the way, he reminded Peng Youzai, "Sect Leader, the people from the three sects are still waiting outside the southern gate."

"Let them wait!"

Peng Youzai's face was dark. The reply was ice-cold. His mood was extremely poor. Something this serious had happened. There was no possibility Tianyu Sect would conceal it from him. The sect had sent word immediately. Peng Youzai had received the report while still on the road and already knew what had taken place. His own daughter and son-in-law's entire household had actually opposed Tianyu Sect itself. As Sect Leader, what position did that leave him in? How could his mood possibly be good?

Throughout the entire journey, he had been thinking about how he should handle the matter. When they reached the yamen, everyone dismounted and strode inside. Feng Entai appeared to receive them.

Peng Youzai stopped in front of him and said through gritted teeth, "You can't even keep hold of your own elder token. What use are you?"

Feng Entai had nothing to say. If Peng Youzai insisted on putting it that way, then he truly did bear responsibility. This was a burden he had no choice but to shoulder. To a certain degree, if Peng Yulan had not obtained his elder token, events would never have developed into this disaster. Feng Entai also understood that this matter was extremely difficult for the Sect Leader to handle. If he punished too heavily, the offender was still his own daughter.

If he punished too lightly, then even if the disciples of Tianyu Sect said nothing aloud, they would certainly be dissatisfied. The charge of unfairness would inevitably fall on Peng Youzai's head. Peng Youzai did not say anything further outside the gate. He flung his sleeve with a cold snort and strode inside. He quickly summoned everyone involved. First, he needed to understand the details. Certain things could not be explained properly in short written messages. Only after he had the full picture could he make a decision.

At the same time, he also needed to report the outcome of his negotiations with Myriad Caves Heavenly Mansion to Tianyu Sect's senior members. That matter was of paramount importance. If they failed to respond in time, then whatever internal disorder had occurred inside Changping City would be a minor problem. Once Jinzhou actually moved its army, Tianyu Sect might not only lose the Nanzhou it had just obtained. The entire sect could be destroyed. All the senior Tianyu Sect figures currently in the city gathered together.

After the full course of the upheaval was explained, no one offered an opinion on how Feng Lingbo and Peng Yulan should be punished. The matter concerned the Sect Leader's daughter and son-in-law. It was difficult for anyone else to speak. At most, they watched coldly and waited to see how Peng Youzai himself would deal with it. Peng Youzai did not discuss the matter either. He immediately shifted the focus to Jinzhou's army pressing against the border.

After hearing the report, one elder exclaimed, "What medicine did Myriad Caves Heavenly Mansion take to go mad like this? Are they actually willing to destroy themselves just to oppose Tianyu Sect?"

"Sect Leader, could they be trying to exploit the situation and demand some benefit? If so, we can negotiate terms!"

An elder who had accompanied Peng Youzai to Jinzhou sighed.

"Myriad Caves Heavenly Mansion wants no benefit at all."

"They have only one condition: secular authority over Nanzhou must be given to Shang Chaozong."

"If we agree, there is no war."

"If we refuse, they fight."

"There is no room for negotiation whatsoever."

"How can that be?"

The room erupted at once. Everyone began talking over one another. No one could understand it. They truly could not understand why Myriad Caves Heavenly Mansion was acting this way. It was far too abnormal. For the sake of Shang Chaozong, a man outside their own territory, they were willing to ignore the interests of their own sect.

Was that normal?

Peng Youzai spoke solemnly.

"Everyone tell me what you think."

"Do we agree to Myriad Caves Heavenly Mansion's condition, or do we refuse?"

"Sect Leader, Niu Youdao's influence over Shang Chaozong's side is growing stronger and stronger. Especially after what has just happened, allowing Shang Chaozong to take power will be disadvantageous to us. It may create endless future trouble."

"Of course it is disadvantageous. The issue is that Myriad Caves Heavenly Mansion has made up its mind to fight over this regardless of the cost."

"If both sides become enemies, everyone here knows the consequences."

"Do we still want Nanzhou or not?"

Everyone voiced his own view. The debate over the matter continued from early morning until noon. Only then did the group finally reach a decision. Once that conclusion had been settled, Peng Youzai sat in the seat of honor and silently looked upward for a while.

Then he slowly said, "Bring Feng Lingbo and Peng Yulan here under guard."

The room fell quiet. Everyone looked at one another. No one spoke. But all understood. The Sect Leader was finally going to give the entire sect an accounting in public.

[End of Chapter 440]